Fiji - BULA!!

Where do I even begin:

It all started on a late February evening...  bags were packed, apartment clean, kids excited for what was to come.  The 'Maxi-Taxi' came at 9:30pm to pick us up to take us to the airport for our 12:05 AM flight into Nadi Fiji.  Yes, I said 12:05 AM.  With 3 small children. Who decides these flight times anyway?

Day 1:

The flight to Fiji was very uneventful.  Kids passed out on the plane and we all got our own row of three seats.  It was lovely.  We arrived at the airport at 6am, got through customs with ease and were greeted by a lovely group of Fiji men singing and playing their ukulele's.  After we donned our shell necklaces, we were whisked away for our 1.5 hour drive to our resort on the Coral Coast.  That was quite the eye opener.  I have never seen anything so green and lush and tropical.  Yet the poverty was abundant.  Shacks where you could see large families huddled together, trash littered along the poorly kept road.  The kids all managed to fall asleep despite the shaking and rattling van.  We arrived at the resort (or reservation as Devon called it) around 8:30am.  It was too early to check into our room, so we took out our suits and some essentials and stored our bags for later.  We ate breakfast, went swimming and checked out our surroundings.  That was quite enough for the first day!

Day 2:

We had a busy day planned for the second day.  First, a trip to Fiji's only Eco park which was located conveniently across the street from the resort.  This was probably Isla's favorite activity - that girl LOVES animals, of the scaly variety.

These little guys are being protected from extinction.  Drew loved posing with it

A baby boa constrictor around Drew's neck.  Brave little feller.

Isla's turn.  She couldn't get enough and hogged all the reptiles.

Looking so happy.  She wants one of these when we get home.

Ian and I watched from a distance and pet some of them but weren't as into it as Drew and Isla.  

The place was really beautiful.  We followed a beautiful walkway through the rainforest which was so lush and green.  It rains almost daily so the greenery was a welcome sight from Melbourne's brown and dried up terrain.  

Sorry guys, computer is acting goofy.  Must continue this another time...!